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Pilot Peter Joslin bought his crew enough time to bale out before the plane crash landed near Wartena in Friesland.

He and another airmen were killed, while tail gunner James Cooper, from Quebec, Canada, was missing in action, and four others were captured by the Germans.

'Missing in action': James Cooper

His fate has remained a mystery ever since the crash.

Leemans Special Works, which last year recovered Polish Air Force Wellington R1322 from the bottom of a lake at Ijsselmeer, has constructed a special dam around the site which has been drained of water in order to access the Lancaster.

A machine gun recovered from the Lancaster

The aircraft belonged to 61 Squadron, a unit that was based at RAF Skellingthorpe, now the Birchwood housing estate in Lincoln, from November 1943 to February 1944 and from April 1944 onwards, with a spell at Coningsby inbetween.

Here is a a video of how the company recovered the crashed Wellington.

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Evander Broekman, project leader for Leemans Special Works, previously told Lincolnshire Live: "Most important of all is that we find our missing hero JF Cooper. We think he is still there.

"That's why this scenario is taking place. It's possible he bailed out but wasn't found. To be sure, we are not only recovering the wreckage but also the near surrounding is being built in, so we hopefully can give some answers to the family."